Fisher for golf balls



C. L. MIDDLETON FISHER FOR GOLF BALLS Filed Aug. 21, 1922 Patented Jan. 13, 1925 UNETEQ @TATES aaraur caries.

, FISHER non corin BALLS.

Application filed August 21,1922. Serial No. 583,259.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE LLOYD. MrnnLn'roN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have m- 6 rented a Fisher for Golf Balls, of which the following is a specification. I

The object of this invention is to provlde a novel device for retrieving golf balls fromv water hazards or like spots to which access is diflicult, thereby eliminating in the first instance the necessity for wading, and affording a substantial economy in golf balls.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this nature which may be carried in the bag with the golf clubs and which conforms as closely as possible in shape and size with the golf clubs themselves.

In the attached drawings:

Figure 1, is a view in perspective of a device made in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2, is a vertical section through the device, and

Fig. 3, is a view illustrating the manner in which the device is intended to be used.

\Vith reference to the drawings, the device, which for the purposes of this description we shall call a fisher, consists of a tubular handle or shaft 1, which in length and general appearance coincides with the shaft of a golf club, the outer end of this shaft being provided with a grip 2 of leather similar to that used on the shafts of golf clubs, and having its other end threaded and adapted to screw into a threaded socket 3 at the top of what in a golf club corresponds to the hose. This hose portion 4 joins at .the bottom a cup-like receptacle 5 shaped in the present instance to coincide with the head of a driver or brassie, and having in the bottom perforations 6 through which water may freely fiow fromthe interior. lVith the shaft 1 screwed into the socket 3, the portions of the fisher so far described present to the casual observer the appearance of a driver or brassie, and when in the bag with theother clubs, only close observation would divulge the fact that the fisher is not one of the clubs themselves.

As shown in Fig. 2, the hose portion 4 of the device has extending outwardly therefrom through the socket 3 with which it is concentric, an inner shaft 7, which in length is substantially equal to the length of the shaft 1 within which it normally lies. The shaft 7 in the present instance is shown screwed into the hose 4, although any suitable means may be employed for securing these parts together.

Surrounding theshaft 7 when the device is in the folded or closed condition illustrated in Figsl and 2, is a hollow shaft 8, also substantially equal in length to the shafts 1 and 7, and both the shafts 7 and 8 are tapered outwardly from the hose 4 so that the outer end of the shaft 7' is of greater diameter than the inner end of the shaft 8. A similar taperexists in the shaft 1, and

the shaft 8 is as clearly shown in Fig. 2

flared at its outer end in such manner as to prevent its withdrawal from the shaft 1.

From this description, it will be apparent that the shafts 1, 7 and 8, constitute telescoping handle for the receptacle 5 which, when the shaft 1 is unscrewed and released from the socket 3, may be extended, thereby to greatly increase the length.

The manner inwhich this device may be used is illustrated in Fig. 3.

The device will find a particular application to those golf courses which include water hazards, or places to which access by normal means is diflicult or impossible. On such courses, where the ball strikes the water, it is necessary in many instances either for the golfer to resort to wading to recover the ball or to lose the ball entirely, or to pay another for its recovery. In any event, there is inevitably a considerable delay in the game and the player is usually subjected to considerable annoyance. \Vith the fisher, however, the player need only remove the device from his bag, release the shaft 1, and extend the handle to the necessary length to reach the ball with the hollow head 5, the

ball being thus quickly and easily removed from the water or other resting place and returned to play, the fisher being re-telescoped, and the shaft 1 secured again in the socket 3 by a simple twist of the latter.

It will be noted that the invention resides not only in the provision of an extremely useful device for retrieving golf balls, but also in a construction which by conforming with the golf clubs themselves both meets all the requirements of and lends itself admirably to the use for which it is intended.

I claim:

In a device for retrieving golf balls, the combination with a cup-like head conforming in shape and size with the head of one o of the wooden golf clubs, said head including a hose having a socket at the top, of a plurality of telescoping shafts, the inner- 10 of said shafts in said socket, substantially as 15 described. g

. vCLARENCE LLOYD MIDDLETON. 

